Washington Post CEO steps down amid outcry over massive job cuts

SCMP | Feb. 7, 2026, 6:56 p.m. | Original

Will Lewis, publisher and CEO of The Washington Post, poses for a portrait in Washington in November 2023. Photo: The Washington Post via AP

Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis said on Saturday that he was stepping down, three days after the troubled newspaper said that it was laying off a third of its staff.

Lewis sent an email to staff at The Washington Post’s staff saying that “difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post”.

Lewis and the newspaper’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos did not take part in a meeting with staff announcing the lay-offs this week.

The paper’s chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was named acting publisher and CEO. He joined The Washington Post only last June.

A protester holds a cut-out of Jeff Bezos’ face outside the Washington Post office on Thursday. Photo: AP
A protester holds a cut-out of Jeff Bezos’ face outside the Washington Post office on Thursday. Photo: AP

The British-born Lewis was a former top executive at The Wall Street Journal before taking over at The Washington Post in January 2024.

How old is Chinese civilisation? It really dates back 8,000 years, an archaeologist argues Southeast Asian refugees cast out of Trump’s US face exile in unknown lands